Barco is launching new HD media servers at ISE — available in four models — that the company says will cover the entire workflow of video professionals, from design to operation. Thanks to the ‘Projection Study’ tool, the Barco media servers are ideally suited for rental and staging applications and 3D projection mappings, while they can also be used for fixed installation in entertainment venues and visitor attractions. The media servers will ship in March 2015.

With the Barco media servers, designers can turn buildings into video stories. The 3D Projection Study tool allows technical directors to choose the right equipment based on brightness and resolution requirements and determine the best projector placement. Another unique feature of the Barco media servers is that they offer templates that allow for content renewal, to simplify the technical design of video professionals’ workflow. And thanks to the automated warping and blending tools, users can easily control multi-screen setups.

End-to-end systems for show design, creation, setup and control that are powered by the X-Agora software, the Barco media servers simplify the task of bringing together different types of content to create large-scale media environments — such as projection shows on the sides of buildings. The user interface also follows the conventions of post-production applications. Barco says the systems are so easy to use that designers only need half a day of training to learn how to work with them. The web-based interface for scheduling allows non-experts to easily schedule and manage content for permanent installations as well.

The timeline-based content assembly and design tool enables users to create a 3D virtualization of their multimedia event. As it offers an exact simulation of the environment, users can test their entire show before show time and sell ideas to customers before the show is actually built. The tool enables preview and adjustment of both pre-rendered and real-time content by navigating in a 3D virtual environment and deploying it in physical space – all while staying in a single software environment. This also speeds projector setup and execution, leading to dramatically reduced costs.

And, with a drag and drop interface, the Barco media servers can interact with audiences’ mobile devices using a wide variety of particle effects, shaders and actions, like creating a water-ripple effect on a building.

The media servers come in four models — XHD-400, XHD-402, XHD-404 and XHD-200. They allow you to remotely monitor, control and synchronize your players from the controller PC and have a distributed content management system. The hardware consists of cutting edge graphic cards, solid state hard drives and optional input cards.

Here are all the tech specs.